Battery hand-lamp



G. D. GALLAGHER.

BATTERY HAND LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I3, |920.

Patented; De@ 14, 1920.

, 'UNITED strates' lTNT iiiltii.

GEORGE D. GALLAGHER, 0F WASE'INGTON, ,TESTRICT OF COLUMBIA., ASSIGNORTO` WINCIIES'IER REPEATING- ARMS COMPANY, 0F NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A

'CORPORATION 0F CONNECTICUT.

BATTERY HAND-LAMP.

Be it known that I, Geenen D. GALLaGHnR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, District of Columbia have invented certain newand useful lmprovements in Battery Hand-Lamps; and l do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to hand lamps and particularly to arrangementsfor preventing injury to the incandescent bulbs of the lamps by shocksor undue pressure transmitted against their terminals by movements ofthe batteries within the lamp casings. ln practically all of thecylindrical case hand lamps now manufactured, the battery, whichconsists of a number of dry cells placed end to end within a carton andconnected in series, is held in place against the base of the lamp bymeans of a spring at the opposite end of the casing. The battery isrelatively heavy and sudden movements of the hand lamp may cause thebattery to move within the casing and deliver blows upon the base of thelamp. The shocks thus imparted to the lamp may result in breakage ofitsbulb or filament, lor the crushing in of its glass base.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device for absorbingshocks due to movements of the battery within the case, which shall besimpler in construction and cheaper to manufacture than are priorarrangements for the same purpose. The device is so constructed that itmay be detached from the lamp or placed thereon as desired, thuspermitting it to be applied to existing structures without in any otherway modifying the latter.

ln accordance with the invention the shock absorber consists of a tubeclosed at one end by an insulating disk through which entends a U-shapedstrip of metal, one leg of which serves as a spring to press against theupper or carbon terminal of the battery, while the other leg serves as aspring to press against the inner terminal of the` lamp. The tube may bemade integral with the threaded socket of the reiiector into 1which thebase of the lamp is screwed, or it may be made as a separate memberadapted to be screwed over the threaded specification oi' LettersPatent.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

1920. Serial N0. 373,630.

socket of the reflector, or directly onto the end of the lamp base whereit projects beyond the socket of the reflector, with the front end ofthe tube abutting against the end of the socket.

the particular nature of the invention, as well as other objects andadvantages thereof will appear more clearly from a description ofcertain preferred embodiments thereof as shown in. the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows in longitudinal section a lcomplete hand lamp having oneform of the invention embodied therein;

Fig. Q; is an enlarged detail View of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modification of theinvention; y

F ig. l is asimilar view of another form of the invention; and K Fig. 5is a view in section along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

The hand lamps to which the invention may be applied may be of-anyconstruction. For the purpose of illustration there is shown in F ig. 1a hand lamp consisting of an insulating casing 10 adapted to contain abattery composed of a number of dry cells 1l placed end to end within acarton 12 in accordance with the usual construction of batteries of thischaracter. @ne end ofthe casing 10 carries a collar 13 upon which isscrewed a member lll which serves as a support for the reiiectorV 15.The reflector is surmounted by a lens 16 held in place by a ring 17screwed upon the out-er end of the member' 14. rlhe refiector isprovided with a threaded socket 18 adapted to receive the base of aminiature lamp 19.

ln the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the reiiectorsocket 18 is provided with an integral flaring extension 20 whichterminates in a. spun channel 2l within which is seated a disk 22 ofsuitable insulating material. Extending through the insulating member isa resilient conducting member 23 preferably of U-shape. The legs of thismember are curved slightly so as to form springs, one of which 24:presses against the inner terminal Q5 of the lamp, while the other one26 is adapted to be engaged by the carbon electrode 27 of the upper cellof the battery. rlhe battery is held within the casing 10 and againstthe spring contact 26 by means of a spring 28 Within a cap 29 adapted tobe Vscrewed upon a collar 30 at the other end of the casing 10.

The circuit of the lamp may be controlled by any suitable switchmechanism associated With the casing. As shown herein this mechanismconsists of a conducting strip 31 fastened Within the casing and hav! mgits outer end in electrical connection ivith the cap 29 and therefore inconnection with the Zinc terminal of the batter The Y other end of thestrip is electrical y connected by means of a rivet to a housing 32attached to the exterior of the casing. l 1thin the housing 32 is aspring finger 33 pro- Y vided With a push button 34 adapted to bebrought into enga-gement with a rivet 35 Which holds in vplace Withinthe casing a conducting strip 36, the free end of Which is in engagementwith the reflector 15. The spring linger 33 Vand push button- 34 providean arrangement by which the circuit of the lamp may be intermittentlyclosed. But in many'cases it may be desired to retainY the circuit ofthe lamp in permanently Y closed condition and for this purpose, the

. housing 32 is provided With a thumb piece 37 slidably mounted upon theexterior of the housing by means of tongs 38 Which extend vvithin thehousing. Whenever the thumb piece is advanced along the housing itsfront edge is adapted to enga-ge and demoditications of the invention inwhich the shock absorbers are constructed as separate members.v

The modification shovvn in Fig. 3 consists of athreaded tubular member39 adapted to be screwed upon a portion of the base of the lamp With itsendv abutting against the threaded socket of theV reflector, which ismade short enough to permit a portion of the lamp base to project beyondthe same. The remaining'portions of the device shown in Fig. 3 aresubstantially theesame as the corresponding portions of the deviceshoWninV Figsq1'and2; that is, Vthey comprise a channel 21 Within which'isspun in an insulating disk 22rcarrying a U-shaped conducting member23,*the legs of which en- Vgage the inner terminal of the lamp and thelcarbon terminal of the battery.

In some handlamps the threaded socket 18 of the reflector may be of suchlength as to prevent a sufficient portion of the lamp base fromextending beyond the socket to permit the shock absorber to be screwedthereon. ln Fig. 4 there is shown a modilieation of the inventionparticularly adapted for use With such lamps. In this case the tubularmember 40 is provided with a threaded portion adapted to be screwed uponthe outside of the reflector socket 1S. .is in the ease of the otherembodiments of 'the invention the member 4() terminates iu a channelportion 21 adapted to receive an insulating disk containing a U-shapedresilient comilucting member 23 adapted to enga-ge the inner terminal ofthe lamp and the, farben terminal of the battery.

lEhe deviees'shoivn in Figs. 3 and 4 are particularly adapted to be soldseparately and applied to existing hand lamps of any the usual types,but it will be understood that these devices may form parts of handlamps as manufactured and sold. lt vrill be seen from the abovedescription of the several modifications of the invention that there areprovided shock absorl ing devices of simple construction which re- (pureno special adjustment to apply them f'ro the hand lamps with which it isintended that they sha-ll be used, or if desired, they may be formedintegrally with the lamp socketsl during the manufacture of therei'lectors. rl`he U-shaped conducting members may be rapidly andcheaply manufactured and placed within the insulating disks with aminimum amount of labor, thus eliminating the use of coil springs andtelescoping members sometimes employed in shock absorbing devices.

vWhile certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been. shownand described, it will be understood that various changes in the detailsof construction may ,ie made Without departing from the principle of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

1. In al battery hand lamp comprising a casing having a battery thereinand a re- Hector in circuit with said battery and mounted upon one endof the casing and provided with a threaded socket into which the base ofan incandescent bulb may be screwed to receive battery current throughsaid reflector, the combination of a threaded tube associated with thesocket of the re flector, an insulating member mounted at the inner endof the tube, and a iat U shaped conducting member extending through theinsulating member and having one leg serving as a spring to pressdirectly against the inner terminal of the lamp and the other leg`serving as a spring to press against the carbon terminal of the battery.

2. In a battery hand lamp comprising a casing having a battery thereinand a relector in circuit with said battery and mounted upon one end ofthe casing and provided with a threaded socket into which the base of anincandescent bulb may be screwed to receive battery current through saidreflector, the combination of a threaded tube associated with the socketof the reflector, a fiat insulating member spun into the inner end ofthe tube, and a flat U- shaped conducting member of relatively thinresilient material extending through the insulating member, and havingits legs extending),` along the sides of the member and slightly curved,whereby said legs are reintorced by said insulating member and one ofsaid iegs serves as a spring to press against the inner terminal of thelamp, and the other leg,` serves as a spring to press against the carbonterminal of the battery.

3. ln a battery hand lamp comprising a casing having a battery thereinand a reiector in circuit with said battery and mounted upon one end ofthe casing and provided with a threaded socket into which the base of anincandescent bulb may be screwed to receive battery current through saidretlcctm?, the combination of a threaded tube associated with the socketof the reflector and provided at its vtree end with an inwardly directedchannel, a flat insulating member spun into the channel and a flatresilient conducting` member extending through the insulating member andadapted at one end to press directly against the inner terminal ot thelamp and at the other end to press directly apgainst the carbon terminalot the battery.

lin a battery hand lamp comprising a casini;i having a battery thereinand a reflector in circuit with said battery and mounted upon one end ofthe casing and provided with a threaded socket into which the base of anincandescent bulb may be screwed to receive battery current through saidreflector, the combination of a threaded tube adapted to be screwed uponthe portion ci the base of a lamp that projects beyond the socket of thereflector with its end abutthug,` against the end of the socket, aninsulating member permanently mounted at the inner end of the tube and aflat resilient conducting member extending through the insulating memberand adapted at one end to press directly against the inner terminal ofthe lamp and at the other end to press directly against the carbonterminal of the battery.

5. A battery hand lamp comprising a casingT adapted to receive abattery, a re- Hector in circuit with said battery and mounted upon oneend of the casing and provided with a threaded socket, an incandescentbulb adapted to be screwed into the socket to receive battery currentthrough said reliector, a threaded tube associated with the socket ofthe reliector, an insulatinge; member spun into and closing the innerend ot the tube, a resilient conducting member extending through theinsulating member and havingon one side thereof a curved portion adaptedto be engaged by the inner terminal oi the lamp and on the other side oisaid member a curved portion adapted to be engaged by the carbonterminal of the battery, and means at the other end of the casing forpressing the battery terminal against the curved portion of theconducting member to compress the latter and hold the battery iirmly inplace in the casing, said insulating member serving to limit thedeformation of the curved portions of said conducting member,substantially as de scribed.

ln testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

GEORGE D. GALLAGHER.

